A Lifetime To Treasure
by cheeseandoreosHP
Summary: Rule number one of rebuilding: there is no person beyond salvation, nothing broken that can't be fixed. And the life of a child might just be the glue you need to stick your life back together. With a little help from the rest of the Weasleys, Harry and Ginny start out on a journey of an entirely different kind; bringing up Teddy Lupin.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: Thank you to LilDevy for giving me the challenge. If you have time, or are stuck for inspiration for a story, check out their forum- Harry Potter Fanfiction Challenges. It's pretty cool! **

**So I was overcome by nostalgia writing this. Not sure how well everything translated but... I enjoyed writing it, even if it made me feel a bit sad... xD Thanks for reading! **

**I don't own Harry Potter. **

Harry was leaned up against the counter top, a glass of something that looked suspiciously like firewhiskey in his hands , staring into the ember liquid like it was a looking glass into the depth of someone's soul, when Ginny walked in.

Frowning slightly to herself, she ran a hand through her hair, though it did nothing to soothe her pounding head. She hadn't bargained on meeting with her boyfriend in the kitchen, especially when Ron and Hermione weren't yet back from their meal out with him in Hogsmede.

Even so, she was pleased to see him.

"Sickle for your thoughts?" She asked, stepping into the light.

He jumped, very nearly sloshing the drink down his front, before his face broke into a smile. "Give me a galleon and I'll think about it."

Grinning, she leaned on the table opposite him, only inches between them. Mere days ago, that distance had been indefinable... hundreds, maybe even thousands of miles. Harry seemed to be thinking along the same lines. Despite the frown playing at his brow, his eyes were burning.

"Hmm." She whispered. "Sorry. I don't have that kind of money. Tell me anyway?"

He sighed deeply- the kind of sigh that communicated a thousand words.

"You're going to laugh at me."

"I would never laugh at you." Ginny informed him solemnly.

"Yeah, well." Harry sighed. "I was thinking about love stories."

Okay, Ginny reasoned, it was pretty hard not to laugh at that. Especially when Harry was so adorably embarrassed. He rushed on.

"I was thinking- well, my parents, really. About how they were 17, once. About how she hated him, and he fancied her, and there was all this rivalry and pointless angst between them, and what was the point, Gin? Really? They wasted several good years. And somehow, thinking about them as kids- it makes them more real than their self sacrificing, perfectionist, martyr selves." He frowned into his drink. "It seems so much sadder, because-"

"They had their entire lives ahead of them. A whole future, a whole load of potential." Ginny whispered, in part because Harry was apparently more tipsy than he realised and might not be able to get the words out (or worse, might be able to get the words out, and say something so completely cheesy he'd never be able to look her in the eyes again) and in part because she wanted to. She wanted to voice it. All of it.

She was sick of trying to look strong, trying to feel strong, trying to act like she didn't feel like everything inside of her was breaking.

It was the truth. She might as well say it.

"Yeah." Harry frowned, swallowing hard against another mouthful of drink. "And it's just- Teddy. Remus did everything right. _Everything, _Ginny. And Tonks- she was so _alive. _How can two people as remarkable, as indescribably alive as them, not be there to bring up their son?"

Suddenly, Ginny realised what this was about. "You're worried that it's going to be the same for Teddy as it was for you. Because you never knew your parents, and neither will he?"

Wordlessly, Harry nodded, swilling the rest of his drink absentmindedly. "It's not like Teddy's anything like me, really. He's got a doting grandmother, and by tomorrow, he'll have you and all your brothers and your mum and dad and Hermione and- everyone. Including me. But I can't help thinking-"

"Remus's doubt." Ginny finished the thought for him. "You're thinking about how he wouldn't be with Tonks, because of his condition, and the extra time they could have had it together?"

Harry laughed. "How do you-"

"I know you. And come on, you're not that hard to read! But Harry, that's the thing about people. They're blind, and they're stupid, and they're _selfless idiots. _Or selfish idiots, because lets be honest, there isn't really an in between. Your mum, from what I've gathered, needed that time for your dad to mature. Well, maybe Remus needed the time he took, too. To reconcile himself to the idea that he wasn't a monster, that he deserved a life too."

Harry sighed. "You're right, I know..."

"I usually am. Besides, you told me something similar, didn't you? That we could've had years? But we couldn't, Harry. Not really. People don't just spring up as they are, 17 years old, with their entire lives planned out in their minds eyes and all this potential and life. They have to work for it."

Harry looked at her, not knowing what to say. Ginny reached out and took the firewhiskey off him. "We'll figure this out, Harry. But you've had too much, and you're meeting Teddy for the first time in the morning."

Harry nodded, going quietly up the stairs. Ginny watched him go.

Suddenly, she had an overwhelming image of Tonks, her noses mid transition, her mouth in a wide smile. Of Remus, immortalised mid laugh as George held his book out of reach.

Of the night before the battle, when Tonks had picked her up off the sofa and put on a waltz from her Aunty Muriel's ancient collection. They had danced around the room, laughing and messing up dances, until Remus had cut in. Him and Tonks weren't exactly graceful, but their laughter rose so fluidly with the music that Ginny couldn't seem to rip her gaze away. And they were lost in each other, but it wasn't any place from which Ginny wanted to pull them back.

She thought of Remus teaching at the front of the classroom, lit with gravity and seriousness, but his eyes sparkling with the joy that teaching brought. She thought of the morning she had discovered Tonks asleep on her open textbook, her hair a sleepy shade of grey- a colour her hair would never grow to be.

She thought of her and Tonks sat side by side on the wall, overlooking the windswept ocean outside her Aunt's front door, Teddy held in Tonk's arms. Her friend had looked beautiful that day; her bubblegum hair a mess and the bags under her eyes speaking volumes as she beamed from ear to ear.

She thought of Remus taking her out to the back porch with Teddy, whispering stories of the stars to his newborn son. He had seen her gazing in wonderment, wondering where Harry could be, and reached out to squeeze her hand, breathing 'he's going to be alright, you know.'

Blinded by tears, Ginny dropped the glass she held, barely noticing as the ember coloured liquid spilled forwards onto the carpet.

Silent sobs shook her shoulders for quite some time after Harry had gone up to bed.

ℓℓℓ

"Morning." Harry beamed at her as she made her way down the stairs, rubbing her wrist across her forehead and yawning widely. "Or... Wait, is it afternoon?"

"Ha ha." She smiled, kissing him on the back of the head before reaching over his shoulder for a slice of toast. Ron, who had just entered the kitchen, mimed vomiting into a bowl of cereal. Hit by a wave of nostalgia, Ginny had a sudden image of Tonks doing something similar when greeted with the sight of her parents saying goodbye before Ted went into hiding.

"What time's Teddy arriving, anyway?" Ginny asked her mother, ignoring her brother. Surprisingly, it was Hermione who answered.

"Eleven. So, right about now, really."

"Great. I'll go get dressed."

Teddy, as it transpired, didn't show up until 11.30, by which time Harry was a nervous wreck and Ginny was seriously contemplating hitting him with a body bind curse, just to stop him pacing.

Shortly after, however, the doorbell rang. A look of pure panic broke out across Harry's face. Laughing, Ginny kissed him on the cheek on her way past.

"Harry Potter, the boy who lived, saviour of the wizarding world, bloke who defeated Voldypants and freed us of dreadful tyranny and dictatorship- afraid of a baby?"

If looks could kill, the look she was rewarded with would most likely have burnt holes right through her.

"Sorry we're late." Came a tired sounding voice. "He was asleep, I didn't want to wake him- I'd forgotten, but they sleep so rarely, and he's just like Nymphadora."

"It's not a problem." Came Mrs Weasley's reply. "Harry's just through here- we've all been dying to meet you, young sir." There came a childlike giggle in reply that seemed to send shivers up Harry's spine.

"Morning." Andromeda smiled as she entered the room, nodding at Ginny, with whom she had enjoyed a casual sort of acquaintance over the months of hiding. She looked unwell- dark circles under her eyes, her face pale and wan. Even so, she smiled as she looked down at the infant in her arms, his hair a dark shade of turquoise. "He's being a bit temperamental today. Would you like to hold him?"

The question was directed at Harry, but it was Ginny who answered, ignoring the frantic glance Harry shot her. "He'd love to."

"I don't-" Harry's eyes were on Teddy, a smile tugging at him lip, mellowing the panic in his eyes. "I don't really have much experience with babies."

Andromeda smiled, warmth evident in her eyes. "I think you'll find Ginny quite adapt."

Ginny laughed- her first real laugh in weeks. "Hold you arms like this- that's it, and relax. All there is to it."

And so Teddy Lupin was placed in his Godfather's arms. And the moment he was, he started to cry. But Harry couldn't have cared less.

Rocking his _godson _back and forth, he felt the warmth of the child seep through into his skin, the light blue eyes widening until he imagined they could see right through to his soul. Harry vowed, there and then, that Teddy would always know love, would always have someone to hold him and whisper goodnight, would always know how amazing he truly was.

And, suddenly, inexplicably, the crying stopped. Andromeda, who had been anxiously reaching out, felt a hand on her shoulder, and Molly Weasley's lips at her ear.

"I'd say he was doing fine on his own."

"Yes, I think I would."

"Tea?" Molly asked.

Andromeda sighed, tears in her eyes for the first time in weeks, though she had no idea why. "Tea." She sighed. "Would be _lovely."_

ℓℓℓ

Ginny watched as her mother sat in the rocking chair with Teddy held in arms bent perfectly as no mothering book could teach, fingers light as air caressing his cheek, a soft lullaby sung in a sweet (albeit out of tune) tone.

"Stop hogging him, mum." Ginny laughed. "Andromeda's starting to think you're not going to give him back."

A silent tear arched its way down Molly's cheek and splashed onto the sleeping child. Horrified, Ginny put an arm around her mother's shoulders. Remembering the look of wonderment and longing on her mother's face earlier that morning, Ginny felt understanding dawning out of the fog of thoughts.

"Does it remind you? Of us, I mean?" Ginny asked, her voice soft enough that she might have been talking in a church, a lock of hair falling into her face as she rested her head on her mother's shoulder.

Molly let out a strangled sob, the kind of grief that seems to roar like a clap of thunder into a silent abyss, then fall silent once again, because no noise- no matter how broken, can truly portray how shattered the heart of Molly Weasley really was.

"I want to go back. Back to the start, to do it all again. I want to stop time and make sure you never grow up. Sometimes I just feel like you're all strangers in my own home. Like I'm a stranger. A strange woman made strange by this strange pain."

"You're not strange, mum." Ginny whispered.

"He was so small, Ginny." Her mother whispered. "So, so small. Gideon, and Fabian, and now my little Freddie." Propping Teddy up with one arm, she reached up to squeeze Ginny's hand. "I held them for such a brief amount of time. Yet I loved them- you, all of you- so well. And you're all lost to me. Every single one."

"I'm right here, mum." Ginny breathed. "Right here."

Her mother didn't seem to hear her. "I haven't got any right to complain. I lost a son, two brothers. But so many people lost so much more... But Bill's married, and Charlie's in Romania, and Percy's at work, and Georgie's broken, and Ron's too in love to notice, and you've got Harry, And Freddie..." A sob roared again, quickly silenced. "It's indescribable. The pain of losing a child... Maybe one day you'll understand."

Ginny ran a hand through her mother's hair, silent tears falling thick and fast. "I love you, mum."

Her mother twisted around, holding out the sleeping baby. "I told him off too much. Freddie. He was always playing pranks, always laughing. And I was always telling him off. What if that's his only memory of me?"

"Mum- Look, I'm not the religion expert or anything. But I do know, wherever Fred is, he's not lost. He's happy. And whatever he remembers about his life, about all of us, it most certainly isn't the times you told him off. It's all the fun he had playing pranks, and how much he asked for every sharp word he got. He's probably doing that mad laugh of his, planning funny jokes to play on us when we see him again-" Ginny broke off with a desperate sort of gulp for air. "And we _will. _We'll see him again, mum. I promise. Not any day soon. But we will. He's not lost to us."

Molly Weasley gave a little gasp, and thrust Teddy into her daughters arms. "Take him. You're right... He's not mine. He's not Freddie. But... There's something pretty special about this one, too."

"Mum-"

But Molly Weasley had already turned away, the words of Remus Lupin ringing in her head.

_As to what would happen to Ron and Ginny if you and Arthur died, what do you think we'd do, let them starve? _

She promised herself there and then. Teddy Lupin would not starve. Not for love or attention, family or home cooking- all seemed to go hand in hand around here.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note: I don't think I've ever left a story this long to update... What is wrong with me? My only excuse is that I've been working on other stories and really busy etc but that isn't really excuse at all... *Bows head in shame* Sorry! **

**scrappy8: Thank you! You're too kind. I'm really glad you liked it x**

**iluvtwilight60: Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it! **

**GrandmaBeth: Thank you very much! I'm _really _sorry I made you cry! I'm hoping they were tears of the good-fandomy kind though?! THANK YOU! xD**

**flipper887: Thanks! I'm so happy you enjoyed it, and I'm afraid I've kind of failed at regular updates... But thank you anyway!**

**readingsloth: (cool pen name by the way. I love sloths... xD) I'm really, really glad! What does the 'Z' stand for in ZOMG? I found it quite cool, and now I'm curious. And thank you very much! **

**illuminatus101: Thank you! That's really nice of you to say. I will most definitely continue writing this, it's just how regularly that's the problem... I feel really, intensely guilty for neglecting it for so long. Hopefully more frequently than I have been! xD**

**I don't own Harry Potter, shocker as that must be for you all. **

Families are messy. Immortal families are eternally messy. Sometimes the best we can do is to remind each other that we're related for better or for worse... and try to keep the maiming and killing to a minimum.~ Rick Riordan

"Mum?" Bill called, sliding out of his boots by the front door and flinging his overnight bag onto the table in a lackadaisical way that had Fleur scowling at him. "Mum, we're here!"

"Are we early?" Fleur wondered aloud, looking around the kitchen as if expecting six- _five_, Bill reprimanded himself, feeling overwhelmed by sorrow and shame and grief as he thought about it, Weasley children to pop out from behind the oven. Forcing aside thoughts of Fred, he gave a slight laugh.

"No, we're perfectly on time. But this is the Weasleys we're talking about here. Best to add on at least half an hour to the allotted time, love. I remember when we were kids. Used to take us at least three hours to get out the door, usually because Fred-" He stopped mid sentence, the pair of them frozen looking at each other.

No bombs went off. No catastrophic explosions, no crying orphans, no burning buildings. The world did not come to an end at the mention of Fred Weasley's name. But there was an unnatural stillness to the kitchen as the two of them stood there, a heart wrenching emptiness to the home as the pangs of loss hit fresh and real once more.

On reflex, Fleur glanced at the clock, and felt her heart plummet.

The moment was glossed over when Andromeda Tonks came bustling into the kitchen.

"Oh, thank goodness! I wasn't sure if anyone would be here yet! Molly's just had to dash to the shops to pick up some things last minute, Arthur's in the garden, and I think the others are watching Ginny's tryout- it's overrun. You wouldn't mind holding Teddy for a minute would you, Fleur? I just have to get some stuff out of the oven for Molly."

With that, the squirming infant was dumped unceremoniously into Fleur's arms.

His hair was as red as any of the Weasley's today, and his eyes were bright blue as he beamed at Fleur, unaware of the nerves fluttering in the pit of her stomach.

She wanted to drop him, staring in wide eyed panic at Bill. Wanted to put him down as soon as she'd picked him up. This wasn't her child, could never be her child, and that very fact resonated deeply throughout her veins.

This child, however, was no one's child. And maybe it was there that the problem lay.

"Bill." She let out a strangled whisper. "Bill, mon dieu, what do I do?"

He smiled gently, putting a hand on her arm. "You're doing just fine on your own, sweetheart."

Teddy reached out towards one of the long blond curls tickling his cheek, and grabbed it with his chubby toddler fingers, giggling in delight. It was infectious, beautiful, and Fleur couldn't help but laugh along as he waved his fistful of hair.

Fleur had always been fine around children. Loved them, even. When she was younger, and her maman had been unable to get Gabrielle to sleep, she had always been the one able to tell her a simple story and convince her little sister to drift off. Later, with her little cousins, Fleur had played nursery maid, rocking them to sleep and feeding them bottles in her lap. Her mother had called her a natural, and her aunt had beamed and told her she'd make some child a stunning mother.

But now that her and Bill were trying, were actually considering a baby for their very own, everything seemed different. Teddy Lupin seemed to symbolise something much more than just an adorable little cousin to play with and nurture. He seemed to symbolise all that could be hers. And all that, ultimately, could not.

"Bill-" She whispered softly as she stared into the infants face. "What if it does not work?"

Bill didn't have to ask what she meant. He took her hand. "We've only been trying for 2 months, Fleur. It's not that long."

"I know, but-"

"Remember what your mum said? About worrying? I promise you, nothing is wrong. It's natural, after everything we've been through, after losing-" He choked on his brother's name, got it caught somewhere in his chest, and instead just shook his head, eyes swimming with tears. "It's perfectly find to be anxious. But there is absolutely nothing to indicate that everything's not- well, perfectly alright. And every sign that it's all perfect."

"I know it is silly to worry."

Bill smiled, and pressed his lips against the top of her head, Teddy squirming in between them. "Yes, it is. Normal, but silly. And the sooner you stop-" He smiled, eyes twinkling. "The sooner I can call myself a dad."

Fleur offered him a dazzling smile. "You will make a wonderful daddy."

He grinned in reply, and turned to Teddy. "Alright there, Teddy? Not crushed to death by Uncle Bill's ridiculous hugging? Or drowned in Aunty Fleur's incessant worrying?" Teddy just laughed, and turned his eyes brown, to match Bill's. Bill chuckled in return, bringing his hand down to cup the baby's cheek. "Merlin, he'd have loved you."

"Say his name, Bill." Fleur whispered. Bill looked at her.

"What?"

"Say his name. You are allowed, you know. It is not illegal to say his name, to acknowledge that he existed. You are allowed to miss him."

Bill smiled sadly. "I bet he's having a good laugh, wherever he is, don't you?"

Fleur smiled. "Indubitably."

Bill sighed. "And Tonks and Remus... Bet they're having a good time. Watching this little guy grow up without them. Knowing that he's alright. That he's loved."

Fleur's eyes filled with tears. "I'm sure they are."

"Fred's going to be an Uncle, Teddy." Bill whispered. "Someday soon. But you can't tell anyone yet, okay?" He grinned at Fleur. "It'll be our little secret."

ℓℓℓ

"Go on. We'll catch you guys up." Ginny told Ron and Hermione. Hesitating only to ascertain that they'd better not be long, or Circe knows how many angry Weasley brother's Harry would have at his throat, they apparated ahead, leaving Harry and Ginny on the outskirts of the forest. Alone for the first time in what seemed like years, but in reality was only a couple of weeks.

"Mum's going to kill us for being late to her first official Weasley family lunch, you know." Ginny smiled.

"Yeah, well. She's always liked me anyways." Harry grinned.

Ginny smiled, standing on tiptoe to peck him on the lips. "I wanted to talk to you, actually. About Teddy."

"Oh?" Harry asked. "What about him?"

"It's just that Andromeda loves him to pieces, of course she does, I'm not disputing that. But she's lost her husband, her daughter, her son in law, all in one go, and it's been so incredibly hard on her. Don't you think that we should take Teddy off her hands a bit more regularly?"

"Yeah, I was actually thinking about that... I don't know, going to the park with him or something? It's be nice for him, to get some fresh air. It can't be easy, staying cooped up in that house of theirs. On him or Andromeda."

Ginny nodded, biting her lip. "He's still too little to appreciate any of it, of course. But there's a park near the Burrow that mum used to take us to when we were younger. We used to go and feed the ducks, play on the swing set. Maybe we could take him there one day next week? Let Andromeda go out and see some friends or something. Or just visit their graves, you know? It might help with the healing process. Merlin knows, I miss Tonks. And Remus. And Fred..." She trailed off, and Harry squeezed her hand.

"When did life get so hard, Ginny?"

She laughed lightly. "I'll have you know, Mr Chosen One, that life has always been hard."

But, as they apparated back to the Burrow, Ginny realised that that wasn't exactly true. That, for all the talk of war and Voldemort and the Order, never before had she lost a brother, a friend and a teacher, all in one go.

Never had she been so happy, and yet never had she felt so empty.

ℓℓℓ

"You're good with him." Andromeda remarked, watching Harry with Teddy from across the room.

Harry smiled. "Yeah, well. I've had a lot of practice, by now."

Molly smiles. "Not that much, dear. Teddy only comes around about once a fortnight. That's not much experience, so far as most babies are concerned."

Andromeda sighs. "I think Teddy's too much like his mother to be like most babies. Excellent in small doses."

It's a painful moment. Everyone holds their breath, staring at the careworn woman in the armchair, shivering despite the warmth of the July evening.

"He's beautiful." Ginny smiles, leaning into Harry to look at Teddy. "I'm sure he'll grow up to be just like her."

And there's sadness in her eyes, but joy too, as Andromeda nods at Ginny gratefully.

The dead shouldn't be taboo, Fleur decides. They should be celebrated. Because, no matter how you looked at it, all of them had been _humanly _flawed, but lived unquestionably full lives. Had conquered fears, held grudges, possessed unequalled stubbornness, hated with passion and loved with fire to the very edge of their existence.

Teddy Lupin, after all, was proof of that.

ℓℓℓ

Teddy's hair was blue, the day Harry took him to the park. Harry was ever so slightly panicked that perhaps it might draw too much attention to them, but he needn't have worried- this was a wizards park, and there were far stranger sights than a blue haired baby.

"I wonder where the ducks are, Teddy. Didn't Aunty Ginny tell us they were this way? Oh, here we are. I miss her, you know, Ted. She's only been gone 3 days, her and Hermione, and I'm already missing her so much I fell partially inclined to jump on the Hogwarts Express after her. Which is insane, since I spent most of last year doing my best not to think about her. I don't really know why I didn't go back to Hogwarts for my last year, with Hermione. I guess because Ron didn't. And because Kingsley offered me a place on the Auror program without NEWTs. And because of you, I guess. But to think... I've always counted Hogwarts as a home. More so than any other I've ever know. It seems weird to _voluntarily _not return. And especially weird to think of Hermione going without me and Ron. We've never been apart for this long in, well, ever..." He looked at the baby in the pram, smiling bemusedly as he sucked on his fingers. "You're a good listener. Has anyone ever told you that? Alright, let's see what else I could tell you... Oh! Ron and I are going to go look at a flat in the centre of London next week. Maybe you could come with us, I'd imagine your decision making skills are unequalled..."

He carried on like that all the way back to the Burrow.

ℓℓℓ

"Tired, Harry?" Molly asked innocently as he walked into the kitchen. Teddy had spent the rest of the day alternately crying, sleeping and eating. Not a bad life, from where Harry was standing.

Being the person who ran around after him, however... "You have no idea."

Molly laughed. "I'll bet. I tell you what, why don't you and Teddy go up to mine and Arthur's bedroom and get a couple of hours sleep before Andromeda arrives? It's only 5 o' clock."

"I think-" Harry broke off with a wide yawn. "That might be a good idea. Thanks, Molly."

Unbeknownst to Harry, Molly crept up with one of Arthur's muggle camera contraptions whilst the pair were curled up asleep on the master bed, Teddy's hand wrapped around Harry's finger as they slept peacefully on.

This would be an excellent accompaniment to their next letter to Harry and Ginny. Perhaps, even, a piece for the scrapbook besides...


End file.
